1. LONDON 2012. Author: Marie Ojasalu, Pärnu Koidula Gymnasium, 10a "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.“ Olympic creed.

2. When and where ?  London Summer Olympic Games, officially known as Games of the XXX Olympiad are due to be celebrated in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012.  Paralympic Games are celebrated from 29 August to 9 September.  London will become the first city to host the modern Olympic Games for three times.

3. Construction officially started on the Stadium on 22 May 2008. The stadium should be ready in 2011. Project of the future olympic stadium.

4. Logo.  London 2012 logo is designed by Wolff Olins.  The logo is based on the date 2012 and comes in four different colours.  Another version of the same logo is also used for Paralympics (the most left one).  This will be the first time that the same logo is used for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

5. Sports.  The programme of the Summer Olympic games in 2012 includes 26 sports. It’s 2 events less than in Beijing 2008 because baseball and softball were dropped from the programme.  But it’s still almost three times as much as in the first modern Games held in 1896!  There will be 31 different venues to host those 26 sports.

6. For example the O2, which is also in the picture, will be a venue for gymnastics and basketball, Wembley Stadium will be a venue for football, Wimbledon for tennis and Regents Park for softball, baseball and cycling. Most of the London’s venues exist already.

7. More venues... The thriatlets will pass many famous landmarks on their way, one of them, also seen in the picture, is Buckingham Palace. Lord’s Cricket Ground – one of the most famous venues in London and the home of cricket won’t host cricket this time but archery instead.

8. Interesting numbers...  About 10km of new roads will be built for the Games.  There will be about 10 500 Olympic and 4 000 Paralympic athletes from 204 different nations competing in 26 sports and 39 disciplines.  The Olympic Village will have 17 320 beds.  About 200 000 chairs will be needed for the Olympic Games.

9. Did you know that...?  All the sports equipment used in the Games will be given to charities afterwards.  After the Games four arenas will be deconstructed and relocated to other parts of the UK.  London Olympics will be car free. You’ll have to leave your car and come on foot, by bike or using public transport.

10. Let’s hope together that the Games of 2012 will be a great success for everybody! The Games.